Fictional Reality Synyster Gates
by NightmareHarlotGirl
Summary: When Blair Carmichael finds herself kidnapped in the middle of the night by five strange men, she never expected to be dragged into a world of fiction. A world that soon becomes her Fictional Reality. A Synyster Gates supernatural romance. M for language.
1. Prologue

Fictional Reality Prologue.

Vampires, Werewolves, Faeries, Ghouls, Witches and Ghosts. The stuff of horror stories and True Blood. No-one ever realises that within every horror story, every fictional book, every fairy tale lies a kernel of truth. I didn't. Not until one night the truth stole me away from the world that I thought I knew.

My name's Blake Carmichael. I was always your average girl, born and raised in New Jersey by my Mom. Then it all changed and my world turned upside down. This is my story. A story of how an average home -schooled 19 year old became involved in a world comprised entirely of myth, legend and horror stories. A story of violence, unlikely friendship and even unlikelier love. A story of death and life, of darkness and light. A story of mortal enemies and Soul Mates. A tale so crazy that not even the most talented fiction writer could have even dreamt of it. This is the story of my Fictional Reality.


	2. Chapter 1

Fictional Reality Chapter 1.

Blaze POV.

I sighed and set the sheet of equations neatly to one side. My mother would kill me if it wasn't left neatly. Sometimes having a mom with obsessive compulsive disorder could be a challenge. Pushing back away from my desk I stood, making sure that everything was left perfectly in case Mom came into the study in the morning. Home-schooling was pretty much all of my life. Mom was strict when it came to school. She was of the generation where schooling was everything. If you had no education, you had nothing in her mind. When it was obvious that I wasn't fitting in at High School, she pulled me out and set about home-schooling me in order to make sure that I got the grades she wanted. Yeah she was a pushy parent but she only wanted what was best for me, so I didn't hold it against her. I tucked the chair back under the desk and checked the study once more before heading for the kitchen. Mom was sat at the kitchen table reading the paper, a classical music station playing quietly in the background. She looked up as I entered the room, looking over the top of her glasses at me.

"Are you alright dear?" I nodded.

"I'm just about to turn in for the night." I replied, opening the fridge and pulling out the milk. "I came down to say goodnight and get a hot chocolate." She nodded and turned back to her paper while I made myself a hot chocolate. "Goodnight Mom." I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before picking up my hot chocolate and starting to head for my room.

"Goodnight sweetheart, I'll see you in the morning. We'll get started on some of those advanced equations." I forced myself not to roll my eyes as I walked out of the room. Just what every nineteen year old wanted to spend her Saturday doing; advanced quadratic equations.

"See you in the morning Mom." I replied, as I left the room. I moved through the house quietly, the only lights on were in the kitchen and on the front porch. Mom liked to save electricity. Carefully, I climbed the stairs, the dark not bothering me, I was used to it by now and only things from fairy tales came out of the darkness. My room lay at the top of the stairs, I pushed the door open, feeling for the light switch. There. Light illuminated my spotless room, decorated by Mom a few years ago it was painted light beige with gold accents. The only things on the walls were a landscape sketch of sand dunes that I did when I was still in High School, a mirror and a couple of paintings that Mom had put up when she decorated. I set my hot chocolate on the coaster on my bedside table, pulling my pyjamas out from under my pillow and quickly changed. After cleaning my teeth I climbed into bed and set about reading a couple of chapters of my current book; Wuthering Heights. Mom had set out a list of over 300 books that she expected me to read to assist with my studies. I was on number 127. Three chapters later I set my empty mug down and put the book next to it carefully before switching my reading lamp off and rolling over to go to sleep.

The dream came to me again that night, as it had for the past few weeks.

_I stood alone, surrounded on all sides by thick, dense trees. Dappled light fell through the canopy, providing the clearing in which I stood with some light. Behind me, I heard twigs snap. I spun around, eyes trying to break through into the darkness of the trees and see who was there. _

"_Hello?" No reply came from the gloom. "Who's there?" Again no reply, but twigs snapped from a different place behind me. I swung in that direction. "Who's there?" I repeated, fear starting to creep into my voice. _

"_No one that you need fear child." The voice was a woman's, full of melody and harmony. I turned to face her, already knowing what I would see. She was tall, slender and ethereally beautiful. Her angular features were flawless and framed by long platinum blonde hair that hung down to her waist in beautiful rippling waves. Her hair parted around her slender, pointed ears. A circlet of gold and platinum circled her head, a diamond inset with an amethyst hung from the centre, resting just above the bridge of her nose, between her bright violet eyes. Her perfect form was clothed in a dress of thin, light purple and silver silk that fell to the floor. It accented every curve perfectly. With every movement she radiated power and grace. Two huge wolves stood on either side of her, her hands resting lightly on their backs. She simultaneously fascinated and terrified me. She began to walk towards me. I tried to step back, but couldn't move my feet. It was like I was rooted to the forest floor. She stopped about a metre away from me. _

"_Peace child, I mean you no harm." _

"_Who – who are you?" _

"_My name is unimportant." I started to speak again, but she raised a hand stopping me. There was more grace and fluidity in that one movement than I had ever achieved in my life. "Trust them Blair Carmichael, they are the key to your survival. Trust them, they will save you." There was movement on the edges of the forest, indistinct shapes that I could hardly see in my peripheral vision. But I couldn't take my focus off the woman in front of me. "Trust them Blair." The dream began to fade into blackness with two words echoing around my head in that hauntingly beautiful voice. "Trust them." _

I jolted back into consciousness, a cold sweat covering my whole body. I rubbed my face, trying to rid myself of the image of that forest and froze. There was a noise right outside my door. I glanced at my alarm clock. 3:53AM. No way would it be Mom outside that door. I couldn't move. Where would I go? My wardrobe was too small to hide in properly. And whoever was outside that door was between me and the bathroom, so I couldn't run for there. Then the handle pushed down and I did the only thing that I could think of. I lay back down and pretended to be asleep. I could feel my heartbeat racing as I tried to level my breathing. Quiet footsteps padded across the carpet to the edge of my bed.

"Christ, check the rest of the room." Ordered a voice in a whisper. I listened as the footsteps moved around my room.

"It's all clear."

"Jesus, I've never seen a kids room this tidy before." Commented a new voice from what sounded like the doorway. They weren't even attempting to be quiet.

"Gates! Shut up! Do you want to wake her up? What are you even doing here anyway? I thought that you were meant to be helping Shadows." Hissed the voice next to her bed.

"He sent me up here, thought that you two might need a bit more muscle to deal with the kid." He still wasn't bothering to lower his voice. "I wouldn't worry about waking her up anyway." He added, his footsteps moving into the room. "She's already awake." The footsteps stopped right next to my bed as I tried not to jump in surprise. I didn't physically move, but I couldn't stop my small inhalation of shock. "There ya go." The voice sounded cocky. "Little kid fooled the pair of ya. Sit up kid, slowly." I forced myself to open my eyes and sit up slowly, like he told me to. All I wanted to do was hide under the duvet until this all went away. Surely this was just another dream. But as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, I knew that it wasn't. Three heavily muscled men were stood in my room, one by the window, the other two by my bed. I was terrified. One of the guys snorted.

"Christ, grab as much as will fit." The guy that had spoken first threw a hold-all to the guy stood by the window. "And do it quickly." The other guy, Christ, nodded and began to rummage through my drawers.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I tried to get out of bed and stop him but the tallest, meanest of the guys grabbed hold of one of my arms, stopping me.

"Sit. Down. Kid. You listening to me? Sit. Back. Down." I sat, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest with terror. He didn't release his grip on my arm, leaning down so that his face was inches away from mine. "Right. You listen to me. You're coming with us. If you argue, if you fight, if you scream, if you try to run or if you try to get help, your Mom dies. Understand me?"


	3. Chapter 2

Fictional Reality Chapter 2.

Blaze POV.

I stared out of the grimy motel window at the strange landscape. We'd travelled for a few hours then pulled in at a motel for the day. I guess that they wanted to avoid any police that might be looking for me. If mom had called them. I hoped that she had, but then I didn't know what these guys had threatened her with. My life probably. The three guys that had taken me from my room had been joined by two more, both tall and heavily muscled. I knew that weak little pathetic me never stood a chance of escaping from all five of them. They booked one room in a crummy little motel. I took refuge in the only chair and sat huddled in a corner, too scared to do anything else. God only knew what was going to happen to me. I was far away from the only life that I knew, locked in a motel room with 5 strange guys dressed only in my pyjamas. I was imagining the worst. One of the guys walked over to me, a glass of water in hand and crouched down in front of me. He was one of guys that had been in my room, the one that had been giving orders to the guy by the window.

"Hey Blair, I'm Zacky. Look, I know that you gotta be scared right now, but I promise that we are here to help you. We're not going to hurt you." I said nothing, but shrank a little further back into the chair, as if I could force myself through the wall. He sighed. "Ok, ok. Here. You gotta be thirsty by now huh?" He held the glass of water. "It's only water." He reassured me as I eyed it warily.

"You could have put anything in that." He sighed again.

"Why would I want to drug you?" I didn't reply, just stared at him. "Alright. I can see why you would think that. But I promise you that we're not going to hurt you Blair."

"Give it up Vengeance. She's not going to trust you." Snorted the third guy that had been in my room, lighting a cigarette. The heavily muscled guy that had been driving snatched the cigarette out of his hand, crushing it under his foot.

"Shut it Gates. If you wanna smoke, go outside."

"Tell me you're kidding Shadows." Gates sounded incredulous, as if the idea of smoking outside was a ridiculous idea. Shadows stared him down until he finally huffed and sat down on one of the beds. He nodded and pulled his cell outta his pocket.

"I'm gunna call in. You guys behave." He ordered, giving everyone a stern look, but his gaze lingering on the guy that they all called Gates. Gates stared back for a while before sighing and looking away. Seemingly satisfied that everyone was going to follow his order, Shadows walked out of the room, dialling a number on his cell.

"If I take a drink of this, then will you drink it?" Asked Zacky. I shook my head again. Whatever was in that glass might do nothing to him, but who knew what it would do to me. "Suit yourself." He mumbled, taking a sip out of the glass and setting it down on the floor next to him. He moved so that he was sat next to me, but on the floor, his legs stretched out in front of him, one bent so that he could rest his arm on it. I shrank further back into the corner. The other guys moved about the room, whispering quietly and occasionally glancing over at me. The clock had obviously stopped working ages ago, its hands stuck at seven twenty six, so I had no idea how long passed. It felt like hours, but it could have been minutes for all I knew. Zacky made no move to get up at all. Other than the other guys' whispers, the room was silent. I hated silence. So I broke it.

"Wh…What do you want with me?" I asked, wishing that my voice wouldn't crack so that I could at least _sound_ a little less terrified than I felt.

"Wouldn't you like to know sweetheart." Drawled Gates from the bed where he still lounged, flicking his lighter on and off. All of the other guys glared at him almost simultaneously, which, in any other situation, would have been funny. He ignored them and winked slowly at me. I shivered and shrank further back into my corner.

"Quit it Gates, you aren't helping." Snapped the tallest of the group. Gates just shrugged as if he didn't care. He probably didn't. Next to me Zacky sighed.

"Ignore him Blair. He's just being a dick." He mumbled, not answering my question.

"Is it my Mom? Has she done something to you? Does she owe you money?" Zacky chuckled, almost humourlessly.

"She's part of the problem, but she's not the main reason that you're here." I sighed. Why wouldn't he just _answer_ me? "Let me introduce you to the guys." Zacky didn't get up from the floor next to me, but raised his arm and pointed at the guy that he had called Christ in my room. "That's Johnny. He's also known as Christ." Johnny looked up from the card game that he was playing with the tall guy and waved. I didn't respond. Was I just meant to wave back like these men hadn't just kidnapped me from my own home? Zacky just carried on. "The tall dude, that's Jimmy. We sometimes call him The Rev." I frowned.

"Why?" Jimmy grinned and tossed a card onto the pile between him and Johnny.

"Because I give these guys spiritual guidance." A collective snort rose from the other three guys, but none of them said anything.

"The guy making the phone call is Matt. You've heard us call him Shadows." I nodded. "That's Brian on the bed. He…" Brian interrupted Zacky.

"It's Synyster Gates to her." He snapped, glaring at me. I tried to shrink further into my corner to escape the hate in his gaze. Zacky returned his glare.

"Back off Brian." It almost sounded like he was growling. "You're making things worse."

"Like that's hard." He mumbled, turning his attention to the card game that Johnny and Jimmy were still playing. Zacky sighed and returned to his original position.

"I'm sorry about him Blair. He does grow on you eventually." I didn't reply, just thought about the implications of his statement. Eventually he pushed to his feet. "Try and get some sleep. We've got a long way to go."

Despite Zacky's warning of a long journey ahead, I couldn't sleep. How could they expect me to sleep in a room filled with strange men? No matter how nice some of them were trying to be. Instead I turned my back to them and pretended to sleep, hoping that this time it would fool them. As I faked sleep, I listened in on their conversations.

"Shadows has been gone a while." Commented Jimmy as the sound of shuffling cards came from where the four guys were sat.

"Do you think something's happened?"

"Don't be stupid Christ, what's likely to happen?" Snorted Synyster. "Besides, if something did happen Danger can handle it." Silence for a while.

"He's right Johnny, there's nothing that Danger can't handle." Agreed Zacky. I hadn't met him and already I didn't like the sound of this Danger guy. They were quiet for a while longer.

"Shit." Mumbled Jimmy.

"What's up?"

"I'm hungry." Silence. You know that feeling that you get when someone's looking at you but you can't see that? Yeah, I was getting that feeling times four. I just knew that they were all looking at me. They lowered their voices so that I could only hear snatches of their conversation.

"…control it…"

"I'll text Shadows, he …"

"bad?"

"Keep it down…can't know yet…" You also know that feeling you get when everyone else knows something that you don't? I was getting that too. And this time it wasn't something stupid like _she_ made out with _him_ yesterday during biology. This time it was something big. And I mean really big. And dangerous. And boy was it out to bite me.


	4. Chapter 3

Fictional Reality Chapter 3.

Blaze POV.

We were still travelling three days later, only moving at night, spending the days in motels. I'd hardly slept, sleeping only when they did and even then not for long. I hadn't eaten anything either, although Zacky had persuaded me to drink the water that I'd watched him get from the tap. At least that way I knew that they weren't drugging me. With the exception of Synyster or Brian – I still didn't know what to call him, so I didn't talk to him at all – the guys had all tried to be nice. I found Matt or Shadows intimidating, as soon as we booked into the motel, he'd disappear for a couple of hours, making phone calls on his cell before returning and sleeping until we had to move on. Jimmy, I discovered quickly, was the joker. Despite the circumstances he could still get me to giggle when he irritated the others or came out with stupid comments. Johnny was quiet and didn't say much to me, only occasionally talking to the other guys. Zacky wanted me to trust him. He would spend hours either in the SUV or in the motels just talking to me. Not about anything in particular, just asking me what I liked, what I didn't. Just talking. None of them would answer my questions though.

"Where are we going?" I asked Zacky in a quiet voice. I'd lost count of how many times I'd asked it and got no answer, so I had little hope of finding out this time, but not knowing was driving me mad. At least if I knew where we were going, I could mentally prepare myself. Next to me, Zacky glanced quickly at the front of the car, where Matt and Synyster were taking it in turns to drive. Matt looked into the rear-view and nodded minutely. Zacky sighed.

"Southern California, near to a place called Huntingdon Beach." I bit my lip and nodded, trying to figure out what was going to happen to me when we got there. A touch on my arm jolted me out of my thoughts, I looked up at Zacky. "I promise you Blair, just like I've promised you every day so far that you've been with us, we're not going to hurt you." I nodded silently and went back to staring out of my window.

I woke up with a start as the SUV pulled to a stop, doors opening and shutting as the guys jumped out.

"What the fuck?" Yelled someone, it sounded like Synyster. "I thought that this was meant to be low profile!"

"Chill out Gates." It was Matt's deep voice. "I asked Danger to station them here." I sat up, straining to see what was going on. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see what they were yelling about.

"Are you insane?" That was Zacky. "I thought that you agreed to let me handle it!"

"Hey guys, can we hold off on the yelling and yelled explanations until we get _inside_?" Suggested Jimmy's voice. Various huffs of agreement arose from everyone else and car doors began to open as everyone got back in. Matt jumped into the driver's seat and pressed a button on the sun visor. He began to turn the car around as a gate slid open. Matt drove the car through as I peered through the tinted windows, trying to see what had got everyone so tense and angry. I couldn't see anything but well-tended flower beds and trees. The guys stayed silent during the journey up what I presumed was a driveway. Eventually the SUV pulled to a stop for the second time and the guys all jumped out again. Zacky glanced back at me and slid the seat forward.

"Come on, we're here." I unclipped the belt and climbed out of the car, taking my time to look around at the house that we had pulled up to. The house was huge. These guys must have some serious money. It lived up to every expectation I had of California, with the only exception of not being near a beach. I knew, with a sinking feeling, as I looked around, that it was as secluded as houses get. From within the house I could hear a dog barking.

"Let's get inside" Ordered Matt, heading for the door. I flinched as Zacky laid a hand on my shoulder.

"That's only Bella, Matt's Labrador, she won't hurt you."

"It's not her that I'm afraid of."

"Nothing in there is going to hurt you Blair. I promise." He walked past me heading into the house, mumbling as he went. "It'll have to get through me first."


	5. Chapter 4

Fictional Reality Chapter 4.

Blaze POV.

Zacky guided me to an armchair in the main living room of the house and gestured for me to take a seat. I quietly sat down, surveying my surroundings. Zacky stood next to my chair and glared at Matt.

"Care to explain the guards now Shadows?" Synyster wandered into the room, sipping a beer.

"I'd like to know as well. It's risking our cover here."

"Forget that! We agreed to break it to her gently and to let me do it! Accidentally running into …" Zacky paused and glanced quickly at me. "Y'know … isn't gently! Or letting me do it!

"Risking our cover is not something to be shrugged off Zacky. If _anyone_ even thought that they saw …" he glanced at me, like Zacky had before. "Y'know. We'd have to relocate. And you know how …" Another glance at me. "Y'know, would react." Now I was certain that they were keeping something _big_ from me. And I was starting to panic about what it was.

"What would have happened if she'd run into one of them?"

"Can you imagine _his_ reaction to us having to relocate?"

"She could have been seriously injured." I tensed at that.

"We'd continuously have to look over our shoulders!"

"We could have lost her!"

"He'd move against us!"

"Our job would be made ten times harder!"

"There's no way could we deal with a full scale attack!"

"What if _he_ had taken her? Months' worth of our hard work and planning would have gone down the shitter!" By now both men were on their feet yelling. Matt looked totally relaxed. He sank onto one of the sofa's, leaning back and surveying both of the guys.

"Are you two quite done overreacting? Can I explain myself now?" Authority oozed out of every one of his words. Almost simultaneously both Synyster and Zacky sat down. "Thank you. Danger had another vision." Zacky instantly shot back to his feet. "Everything's fine Vengeance, chill out."

"What was it?" Asked Synyster, taking a sip of his beer as Zacky sat back down again, his arm resting on the back of the chair behind me.

"An ambush, set in place for when we got back. So I ordered a two guard watch to be stationed until further notice." Matt's eyes flicked to me. "Now you've raised more questions, and dawn is coming." Next to me, Zacky sighed. While I began to fill with a deeper and deeper sense of dread. I was being dragged into something, not only strange, but _dangerous_. I struggled not to panic. I don't _do_ dangerous. I can't do dangerous. I did studying and exams, not dangerous to anything. The only thing I knew about fighting was self-defence. And that was only limited to men. And where to kick. Matt's deep, calm voice interrupted my inner panic. "Get her to her room tonight. Explain the essentials. Leave the rest till tomorrow night." Zacky nodded and stood.

"Come on Blair, let's get you settled in." He grabbed the duffel bag that was full of my stuff and began to walk further into the house. I had no choice but to follow. As I left the room I heard the muted whispers of the four men left behind as they obviously began to discuss in detail what they were hiding from me. I followed Zacky up a flight of stairs and along a couple of corridors, yup, I was gunna get totally lost in this place. I was surprised to run into a short, blonde haired woman half way along the second corridor.

"You're back!" She exclaimed, smiling. Zacky grinned easily back.

"Hey Val, the journey took less time than we thought. Some storms helped too though, to be honest." She glanced curiously at me.

"Is this…" Zacky nodded.

"Yeah, Matt's in the main living room, trying to chill out one of Syn's overreactions, if you want him." She grinned again.

"Cheers Zack." She smiled at me. "I'll see you around Blair." With a small wave she headed off the way that we had just come. I frowned after her, wondering how she knew who I was. Zacky had already gone on down the corridor. I hurried to catch up to him. Eventually he pushed open a door and gestured me inside. I stepped in cautiously. I found myself in a huge bedroom painted in various shades of blue. It was at least twice the size of my bedroom back home and I suspected that one of the two doors led to a bathroom. I stood and stared at it for a while. Zacky set the duffel bag on the bed and walked over to me.

"You like it then?" I nodded wordlessly. "Good because it's yours." I turned and stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Seriously?" He nodded. I turned back to survey the room again, the implication of his words not really sinking in. "How did you know that blue is my favourite colour?" His smile grew.

"I didn't." Suddenly the meaning of his words sunk in through my fatigued brain.

"What am I doing here? What do you want with me? What were you all talking about? What's going to happen to me?" The smile fell off Zacky's face. He sighed.

"You're gunna want to be sat down." He warned. I moved backwards until the backs of my legs hit the bed, where I sat down. I was filled with fear. Fear for my life. Fear for my mother. Zacky ran a hand across his eyes. "I don't have very long to tell you this Blair." He started, glancing at the window, where the night's sky was beginning to lighten as dawn approached. He paced the room for a few minutes until he finally sighed and sank down next to me. "What I'm about to say is going to sound crazy, but promise me that you'll hear me out?" I nodded wordlessly. All of the scenarios that were running through my head didn't prepare me for the words that came out of his mouth. "You're not Human Blair. You never have been. You're a Dhampire."


	6. Chapter 5

Fictional Reality Chapter 5.

Blaze POV.

I stared at him in shock.

"I'm a what?" I was surprised at how rational I sounded. Inside I was reeling. What the hell is a Dhampire? And _how_ can I be one?

"A dhampire." Zacky waited a minute, as if assessing my reaction. "A half-vampire." I blinked, almost unable to believe that I was having this conversation. I was in a worse situation than I thought. Not only had I been kidnapped by a bunch of strange, scary men. They were now expecting me to live with them. And at least one was obviously insane.

"Vampires aren't real."

"Yes, we are."

"No, they aren't." I chose to ignore that he was saying that he was a vampire. He sighed again and got to his feet, turning to face me.

"Look, I am not arguing with you about whether I am a vampire or not. I know what I am." As he spoke his canines grew, getting longer and thinner until they looked exactly like fangs. I felt my eyes widen and scrambled backwards on the bed until I hit the headboard.

"Wh-what the HELL?" I screamed, hysteria creeping into my voice. He didn't move but reached both arms out to me, palms up.

"I'm not going to hurt you Blair. How many times have I promised you that? But you need to _see_ to believe." As he spoke the colour bled out of his green-grey eyes, which I had always liked, as they turned a deep red. It was then that I _knew_, I just somehow _knew,_ that what he was saying was true. Something deep within myself was telling me that this was real and that I was a part of it. I barely had time to mumble a warning to Zacky.

"I'm going to be sick." I didn't see Zacky move, all I saw was a blur. Suddenly I was in the air and moving _fast_. Which didn't help the sickness. Zacky knelt next to me, holding my hair back as I emptied the pathetically small contents of my stomach. When I was done he handed me a glass of water, which I used to rinse the foul taste out of my mouth.

"So have you convinced yourself that I'm not trying to drug you?" I smiled weakly back at him. His fangs had gone again and his eyes were back to their normal colour.

"I have more important things on my mind." He let me walk back into the main bedroom by myself, staying silent until I was sat back on the bed again.

"So, you believe me?" He asked hesitantly. I nodded.

"What other reason is there for…" I gestured at him, trying to figure out how to word what I had just seen. "…that." He smiled.

"Logical." He sat back down next to me.

"So, am I half vampire half human?" I asked, confused. How could I not know about this? Zacky shook his head and sighed again.

"I wish that it was that simple Blair. For you to fully understand the world that you are becoming a part of is going to take more than one conversation. But I will try to explain the basics to you now, if you will do me a favour." I nodded. "Close the blinds please. It's getting too close to dawn for me to be comfortable." I got to me feet and walked over to the large bay windows, making sure that I got all of the blinds completely closed. I didn't know what would happen to Zacky in the sunlight and I sure as heck didn't want to ruin my chance at answers by hurting him. "Thank you." He mumbled as I took my seat next to him again. He was silent for a few minutes. I broke the silence.

"If I'm not half human, then what _am_ I?" I wasn't really sure that I wanted to know the answer, but it was something that I had to ask. Zacky proceeded to answer my question with a history lecture.

"There is more to this world than the Human eye sees. As a vampire I walk in a different world than the one that Humans walk in, but my world overlaps. There are many different names for it; The Otherworld, The Nightworld, The Darkworld, call it what you like, but it is not solely inhabited by Vampires. There are several different races that walk within it, some offshoots of Humanity, others so different that the word _Human_ has no meaning to them at all. There are four or five main races, species, call them what you like, that you should know about. I won't go into them all in detail, there isn't the time, but I will outline them all briefly for you." He glanced at me, smiling. "And yes, I will also answer your question." I sighed a little in relief, as interesting as Zacky's history lesson was, it wasn't the answer that I wanted. "I'll start with Vampires as you seem to accept us already." I nodded. "Humans have some things right about us; we do feed on blood and we can only exist at night. We have inhuman powers, speed, strength and the like. Sunlight burns. We can turn people by biting them or taking their blood, but it is rare." He gave me a firm look. "Very rare. We are related to humans, in a distant way, so we can reproduce normally. Hence how half vampires exist. Now here's where you are going to have to just believe me until I can show you proof. Werewolves…" I shook my head.

"Nu-uh, no way. I will _not_ believe that there are people out there who can turn into wolves." He sighed again.

"Well you're going to have to, because your other half is Werewolf." I shook my head as his words sunk in. He fixed me with his firm look again. "Yes, you are Blair. Look within yourself. You know, just like you did with the Vampire." I just kept looking at him, wordlessly refusing to do what he wanted. I was scared enough about the vampire. I refused to look, to believe that I was a werewolf. It wasn't possible. He sighed and carried on.

"Werewolves are the most common of the Weres, but you will come across others. Wolves run in packs, although you will find Lone Wolves. Wolf packs are organised in order of dominance, with the Alpha being the most dominant. As a wolf you will either be Dominant or Submissive, but we won't know which until you change for the first time." I stared intently at the painting on the wall, determined not to hear him. "It's the Alpha's place to explain the world of Weres to new wolves, I'll leave the rest to yours." That got my attention.

"I already have an Alpha?" He nodded. "That's ridiculous, I don't need one!"

"Yes you do."

"I'm _not_ a werewolf!"

"Yes you are." He wasn't even sounding irritated.

"I would know if I was a werewolf."

"We'll argue this tomorrow. But you can't deny the truth. You're not going to listen to anything else that I say are you?" I shook my head. Why should I listen to someone clearly talking nonsense? He sighed and got to his feet. "Then I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you tonight." He paused at the door. "I don't have to lock this do I?" I didn't reply. He sighed again. "Blair, I don't _want_ to have to lock you in. There's no way off the property without one of us and to do so would be exceptionally dangerous." He fixed me with the firm look again. "Sleep for the day Blair, stay in here. I'll come and get you as soon as it's dark." His look turned pleading. "_Please_ stay in here Blair. I don't want you to get hurt." Reluctantly I nodded. I didn't know whether it was dangerous, or if he was just saying that to keep me here, but I wasn't going to find out. Zacky looked relieved. "Thank you. I'll see you later." He stepped out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. I let myself fall backwards onto the bed. How the hell could _any_ of this be even remotely true? How could I let myself believe any of it? It all went against everything that I'd been raised to think. All of this was meant to be a fairy-tale horror story, not real. But I couldn't think of any other explanation for Zacky's … transformation, or the strange certainty that had settled in my gut. I lay there for what felt like ages, running over everything in my mind. I'd been taken at night. We'd only travelled at night. There was the hunger that Jimmy had mentioned during one of our motel stays. And the strange conversation when we arrived. Then there was the 'fangs' and the eyes. It was the only explanation that fit. Ending up more confused than when I started, I closed my eyes and let myself drift off into a strange, restless sleep.


	7. Chapter 6

Fictional Reality Chapter 6.

Blair POV.

I dreamt of her again as I slept.

_I opened my eyes to find myself stood in the glade that had been haunting my dreams for the past few weeks. Only, it wasn't the same dream. The strange woman was already there, the two giant wolves still flanking her. The shadowy figures were still moving about on the edges of the trees, slightly clearer than before, although I still couldn't make out what they looked like. A twig cracked under my foot as I took a step forward. She turned to face me, a smile gracing her flawless face, her bright violet eyes sparkling. _

"_Blair, you have trusted thus far. To continue to do so is the right course of action. Challenge your beliefs and your world will change." _

"_What if I don't want it to change? What if I want to go back to the way that it was?" Her smile turned sympathetic. _

"_Child, nothing will be the same again for you. Accept it and grow into what you were meant to be or deny it and risk your very self in the process." I frowned. I was getting more confused now than I was when I was awake. _

"_Are you telling me that everything Zacky said to me was true? That Vampires and Werewolves exist?" She nodded, as if I'd asked the right question. _

"_You are a bright one. Zachary spoke the truth. You felt it." She nodded again as she spoke, as if confirming what she already knew. How she knew this, I didn't know. I mean, she was _my_ dream, right? "Look at me Blair Carmichael and tell me that I am Human." I looked at her again, taking my time to look over her properly. Her facial features were too angular, I'd never seen anyone with such finely angled bone structure. Her long platinum blonde hair shone, split by long, slender ears that tapered to fine points, almost like an elf's from _TheLord of the Rings. _Her bright violet eyes studied me intensely as I looked at her. I'd never seen anyone with eyes such a strange colour before. She ran a hand down the back of one of the wolves, murmuring softly. You know when some people walk into a room, you stop and look at them because you can sense the power that they have? I was getting that feeling with her. I just wanted to stand and watch her. It was like I could feel her power radiating from her as she moved, even as she stood. She was so graceful too. The way that she held herself as she stood was elegant without even seeming to try. I'd never seen anyone who could stand like that without trying. And her voice. The simultaneous mix of melody and harmony was something that I'd never heard before I'd started dreaming of her. It couldn't be human. None of her could. _

"_Who are you?" I couldn't quite disguise the fear from my voice. First strange people invaded my life, now they were invading my dreams. I'd always thought that this was just another dream, now, I wasn't so sure. _

"_You will find out soon enough child. Your senses are strong, your head sensible and your heart loving. Combine these and continue to trust and you will grow from strength to strength, until you become who you were meant to be." With that final, cryptic sentence, she turned and walked towards the deeper shadows of the trees, the wolves following her. As she reached the edge of the shadows, she turned her head to look at me one last time. _

"_Until next time, Blair Carmichael." She stepped into the shadows, disappearing._

"_Wait! I'm still confused." I called, a split second too late. She was gone, the wolves with her and the shadowy figures that danced on the edge of the trees were following. Before they too disappeared, I caught a glance of one as it turned to look at me. My breath caught and I took a step forward, but it was gone. I felt my heart rate increase as I realised what I'd just seen. Zacky. _

I sat up suddenly, panic giving way to confusion when I realised what I had just seen. I frowned, trying to figure out my dream. My mother had always told me that dreams are our subconscious desires or fears. I'd always thought that that was true, but now I wasn't so sure. I have never had any desire to be kidnapped by a bunch of people who were convinced that they were vampires. Maybe my dream was my subconscious trying to reassure me that everything was going to be ok, but why was I dreaming of the strange woman _before_ I was taken? Maybe she was my inner vampire? I sighed swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing my eyes. I was complicating everything. It was just a dream. Your dreams are influenced by what's happened to you. That's all it was. Having rationalised with myself I got to my feet and walked over to the windows, where the thick curtains were still drawn. Despite the dream, sleeping had made me feel a little better. By now I was convinced that the guys weren't going to hurt me. They all seemed nice enough, except for Brian, Synyster, whatever he was called. He just scared me. Hardly any light filtered in around the edges of the curtains and none came through the thick fabric, which I guess was kinda the point. Cracking the curtains open, I saw that the light was starting to fade. I'd slept through the whole day? That must be why I felt better. Another thought hit me. Zacky would be up soon. Maybe I'd get some clearer answers. I let the curtain fall back into its original place and headed towards the bathroom. I wanted a shower and some clean clothes before I had to face the guys again. I grabbed the duffel bag that Johnny had filled with my clothes, grateful for their foresight and shut myself in the bathroom.


	8. Chapter 7

Fictional Reality Chapter 7.

Blair POV.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, clean and in fresh clothes; jeans and a plain red t-shirt, Zacky was stood in my room. He turned to face me as I shut the door.

"Hey." I greeted, smiling slightly. He smiled back.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?"

"Well thanks." He nodded.

"Good. You want something to eat?" My stomach grumbled in response to the mention of food. Zacky laughed. "Come on. Let's go get you something." I followed him wordlessly as he walked out of my room. We walked straight through the main lounge area that we'd arrived in yesterday and headed through a sliding partition door into the kitchen. I still couldn't get over the sheer size of everywhere here. The kitchen alone was easily the size of the whole ground floor of my house. An island sat in the middle of the kitchen, pots and pans hanging from hooks above it. I loved the open plan feel of it. I could just imagine everyone being in here at once laughing, having fun. Strangely, I imagined myself there with them. Zacky gestured at the island and the stools that were dotted around it.

"Take a seat Blair. I'll see what we've got." I perched on one of the stools and watched him open and close cupboards, surveying the contents. Eventually he sighed. "Ok, I'm no Danger, but how does pancakes sound? My cookery skills can stretch that far." I smiled and laughed.

"That sounds brilliant." Zacky wouldn't let me help so I stayed sat while he mixed up the pancake batter. Rather than sitting in silence, I opted to pick up the conversation that we'd left off last night. Partly through curiosity and partly because I didn't want to force Zacky to start it up again since we'd ended it so awkwardly yesterday. "So vampires can eat normally? Like humans?" Zacky turned his head to look at me, a mild expression of surprise on his face, before it gave way to a smile. I smiled back. I'd clearly done the right thing to fix the small argument we'd had yesterday. He turned back to his cooking as he replied.

"Like I said yesterday, we're distantly related to humans. That means that we can eat normally, provided that we supplement our diet with blood." A thought crossed my mind that I didn't want to voice, but I had to know.

"Am I going to need to drink blood?" I asked in a quiet voice. Zacky paused again and turned to face me fully.

"Most probably, yes. But we won't know for sure until you complete the Change the blood balance of Dhampires is always different, depending on their other half." I closed my eyes and sighed.

"There's going to be a problem with that." I mumbled. Zacky cut me off before I could tell him my problem.

"I know that it seems kinda icky, but it's something that you're just going to have to get over I'm afraid. It'll get easier with time." I shook my head.

"It's not just that." Zacky's look turned curious.

"Oh?"

"I'm vegetarian."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"On principle or…?"

"I throw up when I eat meat. I'm ok with fish, but meat makes me ill every time." To my surprise, Zacky smiled.

"Don't worry about it. We can work around it and it won't be an issue until you Change anyway." He turned back to his cooking and I returned to the conversation.

"So what else am I likely to come across while I'm staying with you?" Zacky laughed.

"It's more a case of what won't you come across, but I see your point. You'll almost certainly come across the Fae." I frowned.

"Fae? Like Fairies?" Zacky flipped a pancake and began to pull sugar, syrup and other toppings out of a cupboard.

"Not the kind of fairies that you're thinking of. The type of Fae that I'm talking about are numerous, powerful and, I won't lie, dangerous." He put the first cooked pancake in the oven to keep warm before moving onto the next. "Fae is a generic term, kind of like Weres or Shifters, it covers more different types of Fae than I could name." I frowned, trying to think of something that I could relate it to.

"Kind of like dogs?" Zacky looked curiously at me. "Y'know, like Canine is the species, but you have loads of different breeds like Labradors, Jack Russell Terriers, Collies." Zacky nodded as he understood, then laughed.

"Exactly like dogs." He chuckled again. "Damn, Danger is going to love to hear you refer to the Fae as dogs." I was getting curious about this Danger person.

"Is he Fae then?" Zacky nodded.

"In a way, you'll meet Danger for yourself soon enough." He added another pancake to the first. "Fae are the most powerful of those in our world, purely because they are the most magical. They don't think like the rest of us do. Logic is a strange word in the world of Faerie." He caught my puzzled look and elaborated. "The Otherworld exists within the human world, running parallel to the human world. The Fae are part of The Otherworld, but they have their own world too. That's Faerie. It's accessed through doors, but only those with Fae blood can open the doors into Faerie." I nodded, understanding what he meant, even though the logical, scientific part of my brain was telling me that this was impossible. Something deep inside of me was telling me that this was possible and was happening, so I'd better sit up and bloody listen to what Zacky had to say to me.

"You were saying that the Fae think differently to everyone else?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Faerie has been around for millennia and so have some of its inhabitants. They've had trouble adapting to the modern world. There's a saying about the Fae that the rest of the Otherworld sometimes use; in order to build a road, Humans will dig through the mountain, Fae will pick the mountain up and move it." I frowned. Now that was impossible.

"That's impossible."

"Not in Faerie. That's how strong some of their powers are. There are many different types of Fae, some you'll have heard of, some not."

"Could you give me some examples? Just to make it clearer in my head what they're like, I mean with vampires and werewolves, I have some idea, but with Fae all I can think of are tiny people that live in flowers at the end of your garden." Behind us, someone suddenly burst out laughing. Both me and Zacky turned sharply to see who'd snuck up on us. Jimmy stood leaning in the doorway, doubled over with laughter. Zacky sniggered at him and went back to his pancakes. Eventually Jimmy straightened up, wiping his eyes as he walked into the room.

"Sorry, I just had an image of Danger prancing about through flowers at the end of a garden." He explained. Zacky burst out laughing.

"You'd better keep that image to yourself if you like your knee caps where they are." Advised Matt as he strolled into the room with Val, the woman that we'd run into yesterday. Johnny followed behind them.

"Something smells good." He commented, taking the seat opposite me. "Morning Blair." He smiled at me, I smiled back.

"Hey Johnny." I replied as Zacky sighed and looked down at his remaining batter.

"I'm going to need to make a whole lot more of this aren't I?"


	9. Chapter 8

Fictional Reality Chapter 8.

Blair POV.

Breakfast was a surprisingly communal affair. Zacky made up more pancakes, while Val started cooking bacon and eggs and Matt made coffee for everyone, a surprisingly difficult task, since everyone wanted their coffee different. Johnny stayed sat down with me, talking me through The Otherworld a bit more, he was joined by Synyster, who actually seemed a little less … well sinister, although he was still grumpy, but I got the impression that this wasn't anything new. And between them I learned about Banshees and Selikes, Daoine Sidhe and Coblynau, Centaurs and Satyrs and so much more. I never even realised that half of these creatures were in fairy tales, never mind being actually real.

"Danger will be able to explain more about Faeries than we can, but that should tide you over until you two meet." Finished Johnny, as everyone sat down with us at the island.

"Thanks." I smiled at him and took in the plates of food that Zacky and Val had put down. "And thanks for this guys, it looks amazing." Val grinned.

"I like you, you're polite, you can stay." She pronounced, making the guys laugh as they all began to help themselves to food. No-one seemed to care that I was a vegetarian Dhampire. I suppose that when you lived in a world that brought fairy tales to life, then you'd see stranger things.

"So, are you all Vampires?" I asked shyly, pouring myself a glass of orange juice. Everyone shook their heads, before I could ask, Zacky spoke up.

"Introduce yourselves." Since I already knew who everyone was, his order made no sense to me, but everyone else seemed to get it.

"Full blooded Vamp." Mumbled Matt around a mouthful of bacon. Val elbowed him in the side. I was starting to get the impression that they were a couple.

"Vampire with the unfortunate pleasure of being Mated to him." Val jerked her head at Matt, who just laughed.

"You love me really." I didn't quite understand her phrasing with the word _mated_, but that was a question that I filed away until later, paying attention to everyone else as they explained what they were.

"Vampire." Grunted Synyster through his breakfast. Val rolled her eyes at him.

"Ignore his Royal Grumpiness, we all do. He's usually like this, you'll get used to it eventually." She explained, smiling. It was a smile that you couldn't help but smile back at.

"I'm complicated." Pronounced Johnny, grinning proudly. Everyone else either laughed or shook their heads at him. I raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my OJ. "My dad's a Werewolf, but my Mom is half Vampire, half leopard Shifter, which means that I'm a mix of all three."

"And that makes him odd." Pronounced Jimmy, ruffling Johnny's hair. Johnny swatted him away irritably.

"Fuck off dude!" Jimmy just laughed.

"Never! Vampire, by the way." He replied, winking at me. I smiled. I couldn't believe how relaxed I was around these guys. Everyone chatted happily while we ate. When we were done, I helped Val clear the table. She took in the guys and shook her head.

"Go on, go talk business. We'll clear up your mess." Matt opened his mouth to respond but she waved her hands at him in a shooing gesture. "Go, shoo. It's fine. We'll bond over the dishes." When they didn't move immediately, she pointed at the door. "Be gone!" They all jumped to their feet, scurrying out of the room. Matt paused on his way out to kiss Val on the cheek, before following the rest of the guys. She smiled at me. "Do you want to wash or dry?"

"Wash. I don't know where anything goes." She nodded and grabbed a dishtowel as I began to run some water. We worked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until I restarted the conversation. "I'm surprised that you don't have a dishwasher." She smiled.

"We do, I just thought that we could get to know each other." I smiled back. We chatted about trivial things like the music we liked and fashion for a while. It was Val who changed the conversation topic. "I'm surprised that you've taken this all so well, to be honest. I was worried that you would react badly to everything." I shrugged as I put a plate on the draining rack.

"I did to start off with, but …" I shrugged again. "I don't know. After Zacky left last night I spent ages just sat thinking. Nothing else seemed to stick. I could almost _feel_ that he had been telling the truth. I don't know how to describe it, but…" I trailed off as Val was nodding.

"That'll be the supernatural in you. Anyone who walks in The Otherworld is known as a supernatural. We're more sensitive to magic than Humans, with every Supe having their own speciality. Werewolves are especially good at hearing lies. Subconsciously your wolf was doing just that." She shrugged. "I'm not great with the wolf stuff, Sil…your Alpha will be able to explain it all better." I chose to ignore her slip with words and ask her something different.

"Earlier, when you were introducing yourself, you said something that I didn't quite understand." She looked at me curiously, so I continued. "What did you mean when you said that you were Mated to Matt?" She smiled.

"He's my Soul Mate." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Isn't the whole Soul Mate theory, just…well…a theory?" She shook her head.

"Many Humans think that it is, but that's simply because it's less common for Humans to find their Soul Mate. They're less in tune with the world's natural magic." She explained. "Everyone has a Soul Mate, whether they're Supe or human, as a Supe you're more in tune with magic, and the Soul Mate Connection is caused by magic, that's what makes you more likely to find your Soul Mate." I nodded, understanding her logic, if slightly confused by all of this talk of magic.

"Have any of the others found their Soul Mate?" Val nodded as she dried up the final plate.

"Jimmy and Zacky both have. You'll meet their Mates soon." She smiled and put the dish towel on the side and picked up the stack of plates, transferring them to a cupboard. "Y'know, I'm really excited about having another girl in the house. It's about time that this place had a bit more oestrogen." I laughed and began to pass her dishes to put away.

It was about half an hour later when Zacky and Johnny walked back into the kitchen. Me and Val had finished with the dishes and were just sat gossiping over a cup of coffee at the kitchen island.

"Glad to see that you two are getting along." Commented Zacky. We both smiled and laughed. "Are you done gossiping with Blair yet? Or should I come back later?" Val got to her feet, draining the rest of the mug.

"Of course. She's all yours, I'm heading over to see Danger and Leana anyway." She raised an eyebrow at Zacky. "Anything you want me to pass on?" Zacky shook his head.

"I'll catch up with them when I take Blair over in a few days. See ya later." She put the mug next to the sink and walked out of the room waving a hand over her shoulder.

"See y'all later." I waved back before turning to face Zacky.

"So what are we doing today…" I frowned. "…Tonight?" Zacky smiled.  
>"Hopefully proving to you that we're not making all of this up." He gestured to the door. "Come on." I got to my feet and followed both of the guys out of the room. "Yesterday you had trouble believing me about Werewolves. I'm going to prove to you that I'm telling the truth." He slid open a patio door and stepped outside, turning to face me and Johnny. "That's where he comes in."<p> 


	10. Chapter 9

Fictional Reality Chapter 9.

Blair POV.

I collapsed onto my bed with a sigh. My mind was overloaded with everything that I'd seen and heard today. Watching Johnny turn into a Werewolf had been a rather shocking experience. Despite everything that everyone had told me, I still wasn't convinced that a person could turn into a wolf. Not only did Johnny turn into a wolf, but he turned into a giant wolf, almost identical to the ones that I'd seen in my dreams with the strange woman. It was the simultaneously the worst and most fascinating thing that I'd ever seen.

_I stood by the pool, staring at Zacky with wide eyes as Johnny stripped down to, well, nothing, next to him. _

"_Is this really necessary?" I protested. _

"_You're not going to fully believe us until you see the proof for yourself, no matter what you say to us, or how hard you try to convince us otherwise. So yes, this _is_ necessary." I sighed and stared pointedly at the floor. Zacky sighed as well. "You're not going to see this by staring at the floor Blair." I didn't reply, but I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks and neck. He seriously wanted me to actually _watch_ his friend get naked? He sighed again. "Andrea did nothing for you by keeping you so sheltered." He muttered. "Christ. Start shifting." I stayed staring at the floor until I heard a grunt of pain. Unable to withstand my curiosity, I looked up. What I saw made my stomach heave. Johnny's body was contorting and changing. His head was starting to elongate into what I assumed would be a muzzle, his arms and legs shortening and changing shape, his fingers shrinking and withdrawing into the rest of his hand. The same was happening with his feet. His finger and toe nails were sharpening and growing into claws. He opened his mouth, revealing that his teeth were changing as well, becoming sharper and longer. I think I could have managed to watch it without reliving breakfast if it wasn't for the sounds. I could hear every one of his joints and bones popping and cracking as he changed shape. On top of that his grunts of pain made it all unbearable. I spun around, rushing for the nearest bush. Zacky held my hair back out of my face as I emptied my breakfast into the garden. I gasped down air as quickly as I could while Zacky rubbed my back, trying to be soothing. It was a while after the noises had stopped before I was able to form a sentence. _

"_Th…that's going to happen to me?" Zacky didn't answer until I turned to look at him. He seemed to be regretting his choice to get Johnny to shift in front of me. _

"_Yes. Once you go through the Change." I forced myself not to throw up again. "Look, I know that this is a lot to take in, but there are some things that I really need to talk to you about."_

"_Starting with why you brought me here, right?" Zacky nodded. _

"_I'll tell you everything that you want to know."_

He'd told me more than I'd ever wanted to know. He told me everything. Starting with how my 'mother' had kidnapped me when I was a few weeks old, to what would have happened to me if they hadn't found me. And the scariest part was that I believed him.

_I sat at the kitchen island, my hands clenched tightly around a glass of water. _

"_You grip that much harder and it'll break." Commented Zacky opposite me. I ignored his attempt at humour and continued to stare at my hands. I still felt sick to the stomach, but this time it wasn't from watching someone Shift into a Werewolf. It was from the truth. Zacky was talking again, but I wasn't paying attention. My mind seemed to be stuck on one thing. _

"_So who _is_ my mother?" Zacky got to his feet. _

"_Wait here." He walked out of the room, leaving me with my thoughts. How could the woman I'd always thought was my mother have lied to me for 19 years? A few weeks ago I'd have thought all of this to be impossible and walked out if someone had tried to tell me that my mom had kidnapped me when I was a baby, but now, I was sat here listening to it and believing it. What had changed? Before I could answer my internal monologue, Zacky came back into the room holding a picture frame. He set it down on the counter between us and sighed. _

"_This" He swivelled the picture round so that I could see it properly. "is our Mom." I stared in disbelief at him. _

"_Our…our Mom?" He nodded. _

"_You're my half-sister Blair." I looked down at the picture between us. Zacky was stood in between two women, one older, one younger. The elder one looked scarily like me, but older, obviously. The younger woman looked more like Zacky, she couldn't have been much older than me. _

"_What's her name?" My voice was barely a whisper. I felt like I didn't know who I was anymore. Everything that I had known my whole life had been stripped away. _

"_Maria. This is Suzanna, she's our sister." It felt like the whole world was being turned upside down. My Mom wasn't my Mom and I had a half-brother and a half-sister. I just couldn't believe it. I looked up from the picture meeting Zacky's worried gaze. "Tell me." He frowned, obviously not quite understanding my emotion-filled request. "Tell me what happened." He nodded and began to explain._

"_My father died twenty years ago. Well more accurately he was killed twenty years ago by another vampire. I was three, Suzanna was one. A year and a half afterwards, mom met a young werewolf called Lucian. Neither of them expected the relationship to last, and to be honest, I don't think that either of them wanted it to last." He smiled. "What neither of them expected was you. Mom was thrilled, she never thought that she'd have another kid after dad died."_

"_Were they soul mates?" He nodded. _

"_Most soul mates won't survive the others death, but having me and Suzanna to look after pulled Mom through. She hired a nanny to look after me and Suzanna while she worked night shifts. Andrea knew nothing about the Otherworld until she started working for Mom. She figured it out slowly. It didn't seem to bother her. She was always kind to both me and Suzy. We didn't realise anything was wrong until she kidnapped you when you were three weeks old." I shook my head, unable to believe him. _

"_This is impossible." He sighed. _

"_You've got to believe me Blair. It broke mom's heart when she took you. She searched and searched for you. I'm not kidding. She tried everything. No-one could find you. It was like you'd just vanished off the face of the earth or something. Best anyone could figure was that Andrea had hired a Fae illusionist, maybe a Coblynau or a bannick to conceal you."_

"_Then how did you find me?"_

"_The illusion faded with time. The spell may have been just a one-off designed to hide you just to get away or for a few years, or it could have just weakened with time. Whatever she was thinking when she took you, Andrea obviously wasn't thinking about the future, otherwise she'd have known that your life was at risk from the moment you turned 18." I blinked. _

"_Say what?" _

"_In our world, the children of Vampires and Weres live essentially as humans until they hit roughly 18. Around that time they go through The Change, a series of genetic and physical changes that leaves you as what you were meant to be. For Weres that's their first Shift, it all happens in one go at a full moon. For Vampires it's different. It's like a sickness. Without the proper care, expertise and a present Vampire, it can kill." I froze as the meaning of his words began to sink in. "In all likelihood Blair, either change could have killed you. If the Were Shift came first, the shock alone may have killed you, but without an Alpha to guide you through it, the chances of moon madness skyrocket. If it had been the Vampire Change, then your chances were just as bad. I was unable to process what he was telling me. _

"_Are you saying that I'm going to die?" He shook his head. _

"_No. You could have, if we hadn't found you. With us, you will survive." _

"_But this should have happened when I was 18. I'm 19."_

"_It's different for every person. 18 is the rough guide." I ran a hand through my hair, still shocked. Zacky continued. "It's ok. We got to you in time. Blair." I looked at him. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We're going to help you through this, all of this. That I promise."_

I stared at the ceiling of my room, my mind still reeling. They'd been tracking me down for over six years. Apparently Mom had hidden us well. It had been the mysterious Danger that had located us in the end. I'd never even met the guy, and I already owed him my life. That was a humbling feeling.

"_So how did you find me?"_

"_That was Danger's doing. You've heard us mention Danger's visions before, like when we arrived here?" I nodded wordlessly. "One of them showed you and a couple of landmarks from your local town. It's how we were able to find you." _

"_Who is Danger? I mean, what's he like? He's Fae right?" _

"_You'll meet Danger soon enough. For now you should eat and get some rest. It's been a long day,"_

That had been the end of our conversation and Zacky had refused to restart it again, no matter how hard I'd tried. He'd cooked me pasta, made sure that I ate it, before saying that I should get some sleep and leaving me alone in the kitchen. Eventually, I did sleep, despite all of the questions running around my brain. Why was everyone so elusive about Danger? If Mom had hidden this from me, just what else had she hidden? Did I really know her like I thought that I did? And most of all I was starting to wonder just what Zacky and the others had yet to tell me. What were they hiding?


	11. Chapter 10

Fictional Reality Chapter 10.

Blair POV.

It had been a week since I'd first arrived at the house. Well mansion really. Zacky and Val had been showing me around the past couple of days and I still hadn't seen most of the house. I was currently sat talking with Val in one of the smaller living areas. I smiled as she finished telling me how her and Matt first met. Having a Soul Mate certainly gave a new meaning to love at first sight.

"Have any of the other guys found their Soul Mate?" Val nodded.

"Jimmy met Leana about two years ago and Zacky found Danger about six years ago." I was surprised about Zacky. From the way he acted every time I asked about Danger, I would never have guessed that they were Soul Mates. Any further conversation was cut off by Zacky walking in.

"Sorry to interrupt the girly chat, but I'm gunna steal my sister." I got to my feet.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to meet Danger."

The main living area and driveway of the house were in chaos when we walked in. Zacky groaned.

"They were meant to be gone already." He mumbled, watching Brian, Jimmy and Johnny bicker as they loaded up a SUV with what looked to be a mobile arsenal.

"What are they doing?" I asked quietly. I had never seen a gun before in my life, except on TV, now I could see what looked like every type of gun under the sun. Zacky was silent.

"You need to tell her Vengeance." Rumbled Matt as he appeared behind us. Zacky turned to face him and sighed.

"I know, but it's only a few days since I dropped the last bombshell on her. I was going to wait a couple more days." Matt shrugged.

"The truth is the only way to explain away that." He waved his hand at the driveway and walked outside as he attempted to restore order to the chaos.

"Zacky, what do you need to tell me?" Zacky sighed again.

"It's our job." I felt the blood drain from my face.

"Are you gangsters?" Zacky shook his head.

"No. We're mercenaries." I just waited for him to explain. I knew what a mercenary was and it sounded worse than gangsters to me. "It's not how you think. Yes, we're guns for hire. But we also take on other work, like search and rescue, recovery, bodyguard jobs." I cut straight to the question that was at the front of my brain.

"Do you kill people?" The pause before Zacky's reply was my answer.

"I won't lie to you. Yes we do kill people sometimes. But we only take on jobs like that when there's no other alternative or, well, sometimes some people just need to die." He sighed and shook his head again. "I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner, but I didn't want to scare you." I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm myself down. Despite what they did, everyone here had been nice to me, they'd told me the truth, promised to help me and they all seemed like decent people. I didn't have the right to judge them by their career choice. I opened my eyes and smiled at Zacky.

"It's fine. You don't need to apologise. It's what you do, I can accept that." He nodded and smiled back.

"Thank you. You still wanna go meet Danger?" I nodded back. "Right. Christ! Come on, we're leaving!"

I don't know what I was expecting from the mysterious Danger, but a trek through woodland wasn't it. I was surprised when Zacky turned away from the garages and headed into the gardens surrounding the house. Gradually, the landscape changed from beautiful, well-tended gardens into slightly more rugged woodland that gradually grew more and more wild. As we forced our way through a low-lying patch of brambles, I was thankful that I had put jeans on this morning.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying not to sound too breathless. The most exercise that I was used to was climbing my stairs. To Mom, education was more important than physical activity.

"You'll see." Grunted Zacky as he pushed a young sapling out of the way.

"We're almost there, just trust us." Added Johnny, holding the young tree out of my way. Both of them had better eyesight than me in the pitch blackness, so I was stuck walking between them. We walked seemingly with no real direction for what felt like ages, but couldn't have been more than ten minutes until Zacky finally stopped in front of a lightning struck tree. I frowned, not really understanding what was going on.

"Is this it?" Zacky nodded.

"When I first told you about the Fae, I mentioned Faerie didn't I?" He asked, as he began to walk around the tree clockwise. I nodded.

"Yes, but you said that only those with Fae blood could enter." He nodded again, coming to a halt and walking back around the tree anti-clockwise.

"That's normally true. But I also said that the Fae don't tend to think like anyone else." He paused and tapped the tree three times in a certain pattern. "Danger changed the rules. Through this doorway, and this doorway only, we can enter Faerie without having Fae blood." He circled the tree clockwise again.

"Is that why you're doing this?" I gestured at his strange behaviour. Behind me, Johnny laughed.

"That's just Faerie's idea of a joke. Every doorway has its own individual way of entry. Personally I think that they've got CCTV cameras on the inside so that they can sit and watch us do stupid things to get in." Zacky smiled and tapped the tree in a different pattern. He stepped back and grunted in satisfaction as the tree began to morph into a large oak door. The door was carved with intricate patterns of flowers that opened out to create space for a bronze sign that read; _Home is not where you live, but where they understand you._ Zacky waited until the door had fully materialised before he reached forwards and gripped the handle. He turned it, but didn't let go and the door didn't open. We waited a couple of minutes before Zacky finally released the handle and the door swung open. I noticed, with some mild shock, that the bronze handle was smeared with blood and that it was slowly absorbing it. Zacky didn't pay it any attention but stepped inside, beckoning me to follow. Uneasily, I stepped in after him.


	12. Chapter 11

Fictional Reality Chapter 11.

Blair POV.

I followed Zacky and Johnny through the strangely quiet house. If it was possible, it seemed to be bigger than Zacky's house. It was well maintained and decorated. Zacky paused and looked at Johnny.

"You go on, I'll catch up in a minute. I just need to check up on something." Johnny nodded.

"Come on Blair. I'll explain a bit as we walk." I glanced between Zacky and Johnny before nodding and following Johnny down the corridor.

"So what is this place?"

"Danger's a changeling- A half Fae. Faerie is a tough place for Changelings. Many end up on the streets or living rough in Faerie This is a sort of half-way-house for Changelings and other half-breeds. We help them get off the streets and teach them how to survive. It's mostly kids that show up looking for our help. Most of the money from the mercenary business goes into funding this." I was surprised. This was not the kind of thing that I'd imagined these guys to run.

"Something big must have happened in the past to inspire this kind of project." Johnny nodded.

"Danger's had a rough life."

"How many kids are here?"

"At the minute, I think that there are 23 here. But some may have left and some new faces may have arrived since I was last here."

"How do you find the kids that need your help?"

"Mostly they tend to find us. Everyone knows where to find us if they need us. It's always their choice. We never force them to come and we never force them to stay." Johnny pulled a door open and gestured me through. "After you." I smiled my thanks at him as I walked through the door.

I froze as I entered the room. It was what appeared to be a large gym. Full of kids. There were about fifteen or sixteen in total spread out through the room. Some were sparring with each other, others were working out by themselves, but the largest group was gathered around a group of mats watching two teenage boys spar. Some of them were calling advice to the guys, others calling less than helpful comments. Occasionally a soft female voice would point something out about the two fighters. I couldn't see the source of the voice but a strange sense of déjà vu settled over me. There were a couple of elder guys within the group. I could only presume that one of them was Danger, but since Johnny didn't seem inclined to tell me anything I was obviously going to have to wait. A groan came up collectively from some of the onlookers as one of the sparrers lost. One of the onlookers stepped forward.

"Why are we even learning this shit? I already know how to fight. I been fighting for years."

"Because you never know what's coming your way. You can only improve your skills." Replied one of the elder guys, a guy with green hair and pointed ears. The kid snorted.

"Whatever, I'm outta here." He began to turn and head for the door that me and Johnny were stood in front of.

"Kola, wait." It was the soft female voice. The kid froze. A short, petite girl stepped out of the small crowd. Her long bleach blonde hair was pushed back away from her face by a red and black bandana. "I'm not going to force you to stay. But I'd like you to give us a chance. So here's the deal. You say you can fight. Fight me. One hit and you can leave right here, right now. I win, you give us a week to show you how we can help." The kid looked at her suspiciously.

"One hit and you'll let me go?"

"We're not holding you prisoner here Kola. You're always free to come and go as you please, but you've barely given us a chance."

"And I've only got to stay one week if I lose?" The blonde nodded.

"If at the end of the week you still want to go, we won't try and stop you." He paused for a few seconds, as it assessing the girl that stood facing him before nodding.

"Fine." The blonde girl smiled before shrugging off the open shirt that she wore over her t-shirt and dropped it onto the corner of one of the mats. She turned to face the kid who was watching her intently.

"Ready?"

"Yup." The girl turned to one of the guys around the mats.

"Jace?" He nodded and pulled a remote out of his pocket and pointed it at the large sound system that dominated one corner of the room. A heavy rock song began to play. "Come on then. Show us what you got." As soon as the words left her mouth the kid rushed her. I watched, amazed as she stepped to one side, ducked the kid's punch, caught him around the waist and pushed him back across the mats. "Lesson one. Never wait until you're told to attack." The kid growled angrily and rushed her again, aiming several kicks at her legs, trying to get her off balance. She dodged all of them easily and began to respond in kind. They broke apart a few minutes later before the kid attempted a low sweeping kick. To my surprise the girl jumped towards him, using his shoulders to flip herself over him to the other side where she caught a hasty punch with one hand. "Lesson two. Don't give your moves away with your eyes." She pushed him away and the continued to spar for a while longer. The song changed, but kept the same heavy rock rhythm. Behind us, the door pushed open and Zacky walked in, stopping next to me. His eyes were focused on the fight going on in front of us. A small smile graced his lips.

"There's my girl." He murmured, his eyes never leaving the two fighters. Although his voice couldn't possibly have travelled across the room, the girl stopped and turned to face him, smiling back. The kid, Kola, took this as an advantage and snuck up behind her, preparing to grab her from behind. Just as he lunged, she ducked, spinning round behind him and securing an arm around his neck, holding him still. "Lesson three. Don't try and sneak up on people with wolf and Fae hearing." I froze. Was this … The girl released a scowling Kola and stepped back. "One week Kola. You agreed." He sighed and stalked off the mats. The girl watched him go, smirking and shaking her head before walking towards us. Her eyes were fixed entirely on Zacky.

"Hey you." He whispered, stepping forward to meet her.

"Hey yourself." She replied, stepping into his arms and pressing her lips softly against his. She pulled away and smiled again. "I missed you."

"Same." Murmured Zacky, resting his forehead against hers. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I had walked in on an extremely private moment.

"Is this her?" Asked the girl looking over Zacky's shoulder at me. He stepped back, his arm around her waist.

"Blair, I want you to meet Danger Williams. My Soul Mate." I was slightly speechless. I had been so convinced that Danger was a guy that I didn't know what to say.

"E-eer, Hi." Not really knowing what to do, I held my hand out for her to shake. Danger stepped forwards and gripped my hand. Too late, I noticed Zacky's face pale and he tried to stop her. Her soft grip on my hand tightened to an almost painful extent, her face turned ash white and the vivid green colour of her eyes faded until they were completely white too. Freaked out, I tried to pull my hand out of her grip, but both Zacky and Johnny shouted.

"DON'T!" I froze.  
>"It's ok. Danger's powers can be a bit unpredictable and she can't always control them. She has some powers of foresight. Just stand still. It's fine. She's not going to hurt you." Then she began to speak in a deep, rasping voice so unlike the soft voice that she had used up until now.<p>

"Blair Carmichael, your destiny is great and your future holds the key to a new era. You will unite the divided, bring rest to the restless, show goodness to the evil and bring balance to the unbalanced. You will show them all the truth with a blade of fire in one hand and a dagger of ice in the other." I frowned at the cryptic words. None of this made any sense. How could _I_ have a great destiny? Suddenly Danger's grip on my hand tightened. "But," The ice white of her eyes flicked to mine as if she could really see me. "you will not be who you were meant to be until you find it. Him. He will show you the way. He will show you love. He will be there with you until the very end. Find him. Find him." Her grip was growing painful. "Find him, or you and the world around you are doomed." Her voice faded to a whisper and her grip abruptly weakened and she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Zacky moved faster than I expected, catching her and gently lying her down, brushing stray locks of blonde out of her face. But it wasn't him that they were all watching. Nor her. Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on me.

Third Person POV.

His chocolate brown eyes stayed fixed on her, until eventually he forced himself to turn and walk away. There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd known the moment that he'd set eyes on her that she could do great things. And somehow, with a growing certainty he knew that he would be somehow involved.


	13. Chapter 12

Fictional Reality Chapter 12.

I sank into a squishy armchair in what appeared to be a small rec room, questions flapping around my head. Johnny perched on the arm of my chair, looking completely relaxed. Opposite us Zacky carefully laid the still unconscious Danger on a sofa. I had been going to help him, but Johnny had wordlessly stopped me and shook his head, pointing at the armchair instead. I watched with interest as Zacky rested his forehead against that of his Soul Mate.

"What's he doing?" I whispered quietly to Johnny.

"Every Soul bonded pair is different, with different skills and perceptions. Zacky and Danger are very close as both are very powerful. That's why I didn't let you help. They're both very protective of the other, even from us at times. In answer to your question: he's waking her up." After a few seconds later Zacky pulled his forehead away from Danger's and opened his eyes.

"Come back to me Silvana." He murmured, cupping her cheek with his hand. As if in answer to his command, her eyes began to flicker and slowly blinked open. She silently took in her surroundings before sighing.

"What have I said?" Zacky smiled and helped her to sit before taking a seat next to her.

"I'm presuming that you had a vision, yes?" She nodded.

"Although my thoughts are fogged. Tell me what was said and I shall remember." I frowned slightly, her voice sounded different ; more melodic and her eyes seemed to have a different coloured tint to them. Zacky nodded and began to repeat Danger's words exactly. Danger frowned and stared at a spot on the sofa as she thought. I couldn't hold in my questions any more.

"What does it mean?" Danger's eyes flicked to me briefly. Her eyes were definitely changing colour. It was unsettling to watch.

"Zacky, I think perhaps your sister needs some background in order to fully comprehend what has transpired here." Zacky nodded in agreement. Although I couldn't understand why Danger's lexicon was so different now to when she'd spoken previously.

"Blair, Danger is a Changeling. She is half Fae, half Werewolf. Her mother is a very powerful member of the Fae. Danger has inherited many of her powers and skills but," He paused, glancing at Danger, as if asking for permission to continue. Danger inclined her head gently, her movements suddenly very graceful.

"I was never taught to use my powers properly. When I was just starting to discover my powers, I was taken by a powerful Gwragen who sought to control my mother. He overestimated her. During my ten years as his captive, she never once tried to free me." I quickly did the maths in my head.

"He kidnapped you when you were _seven_ years old?" Danger nodded.

"I never had a proper childhood. And neither was I ever taught how to use and control the magic that was in my blood. I taught myself some control over my powers with a lot of practice. I can control almost all of my powers, but trying to control the foresight that I possess is beyond me. The only one who could teach me is my mother, and if you find her I would love to know."

"You don't know where your mother is?" Danger shook her head.

"No-one does." Slowly she got to her feet. "You wish to know what I saw?" I nodded. She turned away and began to pace. "I saw a changing world. A world at war. The races were fighting each other; The Vampires turning on the Weres, the Witches taking advantage and rising to power, meanwhile the Fae stand by and watch the world around them fall whilst they stand safe in Faerie. The world was doomed. Then I saw you, standing on a ledge overlooking a battlefield of blood with two swords; one in each hand. One was on fire, the other was made of ice. Behind you stands an army of those willing to fight for the world you could bring. Then it changed again the world was balanced once more. The races were no longer divided." She turned to face me. "But unity cannot be achieved unless something happens." I frowned.

"You mentioned a man. Who is he?" Danger smiled softly.

"Isn't it obvious?" I shook my head, still frowning. Zacky looked up, his eyes wide.

"Her Soul Mate." He whispered softly. Danger nodded.

"To find him is to find yourself, Blair." Zacky got up and walked over to me, crouching down so that we were at eye level.

"Don't worry Blair; you won't find your Soul Mate until after you Change. There's nothing that any of us can do until then."

"Except teach." Both of us turned to look at Danger, who was … growing. I frowned again, this was all far too confusing. "It's time you see who I really am." She whispered closing her eyes. As I watched she began to change. It was only subtle, but it was there. Her hair began to grow and lighten until it was almost white. Her features started to sharpen, her ears tapering to gentle points, her cheek bones becoming more prominent. The jeans and t-shirt that she wore started to shimmer and were replaced, by a long, flowing light purple dress made of silk that seemed eerily familiar. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that I realised why I felt this strange sense of déjà vu. The bright violet eyes that met mine were the exact same ones that had been in my dreams. My breath caught as I realised that it was Danger that I had been dreaming about.

"You. It was you. In my dreams." Danger nodded.

"My real name is Silvana Rose. Once Zacky had located you, I started trying to prepare you for what was to come. Our world isn't an easy one to be thrown into. I hope that you can forgive me for invading your dreams, I was only trying to help." I nodded.

"It's fine. I thought that I was going mad." Danger smiled.

"Sorry about that and I'm sorry that this happened the first time that we met. This must all be so much for you to take in right now. Johnny, do you want to take Blair to the kitchen and get her something to eat?" Johnny nodded and got to his feet. I slowly followed him, my mind still racing over Danger's words.


	14. Chapter 13

Fictional Reality chapter 13.

Blaze POV.

The days suddenly started to fly by now that I had something to focus on. Danger had decided that she would take me under her wing and educate me. I had adapted to the nocturnal lifestyle that everyone seemed to live by fairly quickly and tended to keep pretty much the same hours as everyone else. It was currently 2AM and all of the guys were out on a mercenary job, Val was spending time with some of her friends and I was wandering around the house looking for Danger. Music and a soft voice caught my attention.

"_She was so adored by everyone, When it came to looks she was next to none, But loved partying and having too much fun, Then she hooked up with the wrong someone, And he promised everything under the sun_." I headed in the direction that the voice was coming from, finding myself in Zacky's bedroom. Danger was halfway up a ladder, painting. She was softly singing along to the music that she had playing in the background. I paused in the doorway, unsure whether or not to disturb her, she seemed so concentrated.

"Are you going to come in or are you going to dither in the doorway?" She asked, in her soft melodious voice. I was so surprised that I practically jumped into the room. A soft smile graced her lips, although her concentration never wavered. She only glanced up as she set the small pot of paint that she was using down and washed her paintbrush. "How can I help you?" She asked, nodding at the heavy, leather-bound tome that was tucked under my arm. The book had been given to me by Danger in order to help me understand the world that I had been hurtled into. It was, essentially, an A-Z of the Otherworld and the creatures that walked within it. Well, okay, it was a bit more complex and in-depth than that, but that was how I internally referred to it.

"I was actually just wondering if I could sit and study this with someone around to answer any questions that I think of. But you're busy, I can find somewhere else. It's fine." Danger waved her hand at me.

"Nonsense, take a seat. I like having company anyway." She gestured at the armchair by the large, arched windows. I often wondered why the guys had bought a house with such a large amount of glass when they couldn't enjoy the views out of them during the daylight hours. I asked Danger as I sat down.

"The boys loved the house from the moment that they first saw it. It's perfect for our business, remote and easily defendable, as well as being beautiful. It wouldn't be a house without windows, just a box. Anyway, the views can be just a beautiful at night. You'll see that when you come through the Change." We both lapsed into silence as I thought about Danger's words and as I began to read and Danger was absorbed once more by her painting. I kept glancing at her as I read, the work of art that she was creating really captivating me. The walls of the room had been painted a plain white but Danger was painting a Japanese style blossoming cherry tree mural in black and grey with hints of purple. It was breath-taking, and she had only done about a third of the wall. We both worked and read in a companionable silence that was only broken when Danger occasionally began to hum or sing. A sentence made me pause and think deeply for a moment._ The gift of_ _Illusion is a gift that all of the Fae share. However the Gwragen are widely known as the masters of this gift._ I frowned, what did I recognise about that particular sentence? Trying to remember, I flipped through the book until I found the section on types Fae. I quickly scanned through until I found Gwragen. Something about the name was ringing a bell somewhere in my mind. Still wondering, I began to read. _As with most Fae, Gwragen are Gaelic in origin. In appearance, Gwragen typically appear to be short in stature, with rather sharp features and long, curved ears. To those unaware of their true nature, the Gwragen can appear to be non-threatening. However, despite their non-threatening appearance, Gwragen are extraordinarily skilled illusionists and this is what makes them exceptionally dangerous. _I looked up. That was it! I glanced at Danger. It was a Gwragen that had kidnapped Danger when she was a kid. I studied Danger in silence. Since the night that she'd had the vision, Danger hadn't mentioned anything about her capture and imprisonment. I wondered if it had changed her, how it had affected her, why her family hadn't rescued her, what had happened between her and her mother, how she'd escaped, how she'd met Zacky and the others. As I thought, I realised that what I knew about my mentor could be summed up in just a few sentences. She was half Fae, half Werewolf. She would be my Alpha when I finally went through the Were-change. She had spent ten years of her childhood imprisoned by a Gwragen. She can see the future, although she can't control it. Even though she's half Fae, she's still got very strong magic. She's extremely dangerous. She helps other Changelings learn to survive in Faerie. She's Zacky's Soul Mate. I was so deep in thought that I didn't realise that she was watching me.

"What's going through your mind Little Wolf?" She'd taken to calling me that recently. Unfortunately, it had caught on with the others – especially Jimmy – and now it had become a nickname.

"What happened to you when that Gwragen took you prisoner?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Instantly I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock. Danger froze, completely tense. Neither of us moved, until slowly Danger began to visibly relax.

"Nothing much, he kept me imprisoned in one of the cells in his dungeon." She smiled softly. "It wasn't that bad really. He didn't treat me like a prisoner, more like a guest. I was never bored. I always had books to read when I was younger. I painted a lot as I got older and the time that I wasn't painting, I used to teach myself to fight. He mostly left me alone, while he waited for my mother to come and try to free me, as he wanted her to. Occasionally he would use me as a 'decoration' at whatever formal event he was hosting, by placing a glamour on me so that only he or my mother, should she deign to show up, could see me as me, the rest of the guests would see some rare or exotic animal." Danger shrugged. "But that rarely happened. That was my life until I met Zacky." She smiled again and resumed her painting.

"How _did_ you meet Zacky? I mean, you were a prisoner. Did he see through the glamour?" A soft laugh came from the doorway. I looked up with a start to see Zacky, leaning in the doorway. Danger had started painting again, so she had obviously heard him coming or at least known that he was there before he spoke.

"I wish that I had. As it was I didn't know that he had even had a prisoner until I met her." Danger paused in her painting to give Zacky a long suffering smile.

"How many times must I tell you not to blame yourself? You couldn't have known that he held me. The only people that knew were him, the Hob's that worked for him and my mother." Zacky shrugged and walked over to me, perching on the arm of my chair. I moved over slightly so that he would have a bit more room. With a long-suffering sigh Danger returned to her painting. Zacky smiled at her before returning his attention to me.

"So you want know how me and Danger met?" I nodded wordlessly. "It was about six years ago. We'd just started our mercenary business and we'd just been given our first big contract. We'd been hired to return a list of valuables to their original owner after they had been stolen by a Gwragen." I raised my eyebrows but said nothing. "We planned it so that we would raid his manor in Faery whilst he was in the human world on business." This time, I did interrupt.

"But can't only those with Fae blood get into Faerie?" Zacky nodded.

"Yes, but it was a Fae who hired us and part of the contract was that they had to arrange both our entrance and exit into Faerie." I nodded, now it made sense. "We were making our way through the dungeons as we searched for the vaults that he kept scattered throughout the place. Johnny stopped us outside one of the cells. Johnny is sensitive to magic, he can tell when someone has cast a spell or a spell has been triggered, it's just another thing that makes him odd. The cell that he stopped us outside, he told us had been heavily guarded with magic. We all thought that it was another vault that he had disguised as a cell." He paused and snorted. "The Gwragen was short-sighted. Spells only act as they are directed to, and he only directed his spells to ward against other Fae. It was a simple matter for us to pick the locks." He smiled broadly. "Of course we didn't find exactly what we were looking for. I think that it's fair to say that all of us were shocked when the door swung open to reveal Danger sat at an easel painting. Even more so when she smiled and told us that it was 'about time'. As it turned out, she'd had a vision three years of earlier of a group of five strange men rescuing her." I smiled.

"When did you realise that you were Soul Mates?" I asked curiously.

"As soon as I saw her. It's an instant thing. You just know." He paused and shook his head. "I can't describe it, but you'll know it." I smiled and let Zacky and Danger begin talking about the job that Zacky had just done. I was lost in my own thoughts, wondering how I would meet my Soul Mate. And indeed, _if_ I would meet him.


	15. Chapter 14

Fictional Reality. 14.

Blaze POV.

I bent over, resting my hands on my knees as I panted for breath, sweat dripping off my forehead and into my eyes. Around me, a small group of Fae Changelings were training. I'd asked Danger to teach me the basics of fighting, which only seemed prudent considering that I apparently had some great destiny in front of me. A destiny that could potentially lead to a war between the Otherworld races. Danger had insisted that I build up some core strength before she would start to teach me to fight. So I was stuck here, panting for breath, while Danger's Changelings trained seemingly effortlessly around me. If I had the breath I would have mumbled something unrepeatable. As it was, I was reduced to simply thinking it. Sluggishly my breath came back to me and I was able to straighten up. I grabbed my bottle of water from where it rested next to me treadmill and went back to surveying the room as I drank. Danger had most of the Changelings taking it in turns to spar with each other as she corrected them. On the other side of the room, Synyster was working with a smaller group of Changelings. He seemed to be teaching them something to do with dodging and blocking, although I hadn't really been paying too much attention to him – he still scared the hell out of me. He didn't seem to like me, a fact proved pretty much every day when he glared at me as we passed in a corridor. Strangely though, I realised, we'd been around each other a lot. I was spending a lot of time with Zacky and Danger in Faerie and he always seemed to be around, training on the other side of the gym to me, hanging out with some of the Changelings when I was talking to Danger, eating in the kitchen at the same time as me. It was odd, now that I thought about it, considering that he obviously didn't like me. Danger's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Focus Grant! You're forgetting to be mindful of what's around you!" She barked sharply, causing one of the sparring Changelings to flinch. The pace of the sparring match picked up a bit as Danger continued to snap at them. I frowned. Danger was usually calm and soft-spoken; it was unusual for her to be so sharp. Apparently Synyster had noticed her unusual attitude too, and left his group to wander over. He watched her pace around the edge of the sparring arena. After she snapped at Grant again for not taking notice of how close he was to the edge of the mats, he sighed.

"Danger, quit taking your PMS out on the kids and pick on someone your own size instead." Danger scowled at him furiously. He didn't shrink back like many of the Changelings did. A soft growl rumbled deep in Danger's throat.

"Fine." She snapped. Instantly the two Changelings that had been sparring moved off the mats and the crowd that had been watching all moved back several paces, giving both Danger and Synyster more space. The music that had been playing in the background suddenly became louder as someone turned it up. I had seen several sparring matches during my time in the training room, but not even they prepared me for the round between Danger and Synyster. They wasted no time stretching and eyeing each other up, as the Changelings did. Both of them moved instantly, not waiting for the other to move first. They moved so fast that it was tough keeping track of who was where. It hit me, that for the first time, I was seeing the real powers of Supernaturals. A soft whistle from behind me made me turn briefly away from the fight. One of the older Changelings was stood behind me, eyes fixed on the fight. I recognised him as one of the long-term Changelings.

"She has got it bad this month." He commented. I frowned, not quite understanding him. My brain was feeling fuzzy from trying to keep up with the speed of the fight.

"Got what bad?" He glanced at me.

"PMS. Pre-Moon-Stress. It's the full moon in a couple of nights. All of the wolves start to crabby leading up to it, but this is the worst I've seen her for a while." He turned his attention back to the fight. They were now moving so fast that my eyes couldn't keep up. My brain felt even fuzzier than before. I took a sip of my water to try and quell the sick feeling that was rising from my stomach. I would soon be Changing every full moon. Black was starting to creep in around the edge of my vision. I forced myself to breathe, trying to stop the panic. It didn't help. The blackness was encroaching further and further into my vision. My breathing began to increase rapidly, until I was almost hyperventilating. My knees and legs suddenly felt weak, shaky. Nausea was taking over my stomach. What was wrong with me? This wasn't a normal panic attack. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Before I would figure out what it was, my shaky legs gave way. The last thing that I remembered was black engulfing my vision.

Syn POV.

It was rare for Danger to get this crabby before the full moon. Still, it was nothing that she couldn't work out of her system with a good fight. I felt myself begin to relax into the rhythm of the fight with Danger. I hadn't been able to fully relax since Zacky had brought his half-sister back. I couldn't put my finger on it; it was like an itch that I just couldn't scratch. It had been worse since Danger's prophecy. I was so lost in my thoughts and the fact that I felt able to relax into the rhythm of fighting, that I forgot that this was Danger that I was fighting. And the first rule of fighting is never relax to let your guard down – she fights dirty. Really dirty. Before I knew it, I was nose-down into the mat, being pinned down by a pissed off half-Were. I moved to try and free an arm so that I could signal my surrender, but before I could get it free, she was gone. Confused, I sat up and looked around warily. I never did trust her not to let me up just to put me back on my ass again. She wasn't waiting with a sneak attack. She was over by one of the treadmills, kneeling next to what looked like an unconscious Blair. Panic lanced through me for a moment, before I scowled. Why the fuck was I panicking? Stupid kid had probably overworked herself trying to get fit enough for Danger to teach her to fight and managed to pass out of exhaustion. Danger was still bent over her, talking rapidly to Jace, who was crouched next to her. I couldn't see Danger's face, but Jace looked concerned. I frowned and began to head over to see what was happening. It was unlike Jace to get easily worried – especially over a half-blood that he hardly knew. I got to my feet and moved over them to try and figure out what was going on.

"…temperature's right up too." Commented Jace, still looking worried. Every step I took closer, made me more tense. My heartbeat increased the closer I got. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. What in the hell was wrong with me? Yet I couldn't stop myself from walking. I kept going until I squatted down next to Danger. Her hair was tucked back behind her slender pointed ears, a look of concern on her face.

"What's happened?" Danger glanced at me, her eyes taking on that look when they seemed to see more than was in front of her. Her look of concern intensified.

"It's the Change." It felt like a hand of ice had just gripped my chest. I was struggling to breathe. Change. It was just going round and round my head in an unstoppable loop. I couldn't say anything, I couldn't think anything else. The change could kill a normal supernatural, but the chances of surviving a double Change like Blair would have to, were minimal. But why would that thought be so disturbing to me? Jace glanced at me, his eyebrows climbing into his green hair. "Get Zacky." Ordered Danger, casting me a quick look. I nodded, it was one thought that made sense. I tried to get to my feet, but stumbled, losing my balance. Danger put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to stay put. "Jace." He nodded and got to his feet, drawing an archway in the air and stepping through it, vanishing completely. As a Tuatha-De-Dannan Changeling, teleporting was a part of Jace's magic. I nodded my thanks but didn't move, my eyes stayed fixed on Blair's pale face. She had to survive this, she had to.


End file.
